Our Purpose

Research Impact

Research to provide an updated picture of the future workforce challenges and opportunities. Through research we aim to: improve the quantity, quality and relevance of research into employer engagement in education to inform policy and practice; fill gaps in understanding with robust and reliable research; and to make relevant research findings as accessible as possible to teaching staff, employers and policy makers. This type of research will enable government, education, industry and community to work together to positively impact the current and next generation workers.

Financial accountability

OBEP operates in a strategic mindful manner focused on strong fiscal accountability. We are always looking for partnership opportunities to defray operating and programs costs and increase the return on investment of experiential learning activities and industry research reports.

We can help the provincial and federal governments lead the province and country to become more competitive and ultimately raise the standard of living for Canadians through the development of an educated skilled future workforce. People need jobs and we are the link to community agencies that help train and educate and focus on bridging the gap between our education and workforce development systems,

OBEP is here, we are the system integrator able to take a high level view of the whole education to workforce process and provide connections, skill solutions, gather data and provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of working together. We are in a solid position to lead and support, to inspire a culture of employer volunteering with schools and to expand opportunities for experiential learning on employer sites. We are agile, innovative and well-connected with industry. We are industry-education experts and are committed to contributing to a healthy economy through youth engagement and industry participation.

We believe in the power of the collective voice. We have a strong diverse Board of Directors with representatives from across Ontario. Outreach for additional Board members will continue with the goal to strengthen our team and broaden our reach with partners in education, industry, non-profit and community.

Social media is about many things: engagement, story-telling, relationships and most importantly connections. OBEP will continue to build its social media platform to effectively capture and connect with all stakeholders through website resources, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube videos as appropriate.

Creating more pathways to experiential learning as a support for the Ontario Ministry of Education, Education and Career/Life Planning program. A new approach that supports students’ career planning in order that they complete secondary school and make a successful transition to their post- secondary destination. The plan works on the vision that “all students leave secondary school with a clear plan for their initial postsecondary destination.”

Industry Partnerships

Currently working with large multi-national employers to help them navigate the educator relationship. Strengthening existing linkages and creating new connections with employers and labour providing both with an efficiently delivered program and the one point-of-contact employers insist on. With large corporations it is very difficult to ensure that each experiential learning requestand subsequent work experiences are consistent in approach. It is also difficult to manage the learning outcomes for the students involved.

Our goal is to ensure that each student not only meet their prescribed learning mandate through their co-op program but also have an enjoyable work experience that would lend itself to future employment opportunities.“I believe that OBEP provides organizations such as Walmart the ability to have a consistent program with common learning objectives that will both benefit the student and meet our long term branding and future employment needs. “ Darryl Castellano, WalMart Canada

Comprised of leaders from the private, public and voluntary sectors, the Provincial Partnership Council (PPC) is a volunteer advisory committee of the Government of Ontario. The PPC’s mission is to ensure that every Ontario high school student has the opportunity to participate in relevant experiences that support their academic achievement, career development and future success. These experiences include cooperative education, job shadowing, mentoring, classroom visits, workplace tours and career fairs.Key programs supported by the PPC are:

Employer Champion Awards—recognizing and honouring exceptional employers that have demonstrated outstanding commitments to providing work experience opportunities for local high-school students.

Ontario Employer Designation—recognizing extraordinary employers that are supporting the future of significant numbers of high school students across Ontario. To earn this designation, an employer must have provided at least 50 experiential learning opportunities in the previous academic year.

OBEP is a long-term member of the PPC council participating as the employer connection expert and in the Employer Champion Award committee work discussion.

To expand our reach and effectiveness across the country we are exploring partnerships with like-minded organizations. One such organization is Start-up Canada. Our combined goal would be to demonstrate that Canada can lead the way for entrepreneurial growth and development.

Start-up Canada has a focus on youth entrepreneurs and OBEP has the connections with youth, education and industry. They have momentum across the country and OBEP represents a coming together of partners from the public sector, non-profit sector and private sector all committed to deepening relationships between education and employers. An area of opportunity to explore is outside of major urban areas, connecting the non-tech entrepreneurs—such as farmers, artisans, retail, and skilled trades—to the tech sector to build sustainable partnerships.

Now is the time to review the current workforce development system and gather recommendations to improve it. CBEP will facilitate a discussion with business, education and government leaders from across the country to examine workforce skills and capabilities that employers need. We will review our education delivery system and provide recommendations for advancement and provide policy recommendations for Provincial and Federal governments. Our aim is to improve the return on tax dollar investment, through an increase in productivity, transparency, accountability and innovation.

Education Partnerships

Building on established relationships with education associations such as the Ontario Cooperative Education Association (OCEA), Ontario Council for Technology Educators (OCTE), Ontario School Counsellors’ Association (OSCA) and Ontario Business Educators’ Association (OBEA) allow us to gather insight and knowledge into the gaps in education delivery for youth.

We will explore opportunities for improvement in the secondary and post-secondary education systems to ensure that young people gain the relevant skills and knowledge and enter the workforce with the skills employers require.